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Mike is annoyed when Mark tells him he doesn't want him at his school open day. Kevin is fed up as his old car breaks down. Raquel returns from spending the weekend in Newcastle, having met Des' parents. Maud suggests Percy and Emily plan a double wedding to save money. Reg considers employing Maud and Percy in the shop as cheap labour. The Legion holds a raffle for the hospital and Liz pulls the winning ticket which is Jim's. He wins a day at the races for two. Bernard tells Emily that his mother was mentally ill for years. He tells her that he can't cope with living with that again. Rita gives the Websters her blessing to spend some of the money on a new car. Emily is heartbroken when Bernard tells her that he can't marry her. She refuses to scream and shout so he just leaves. A depressed Emily snaps at Percy but doesn't tell him about Bernard. Kevin buys a new car. Percy reads in the Gazette that a good age for budgies is twelve years. He feels this is wrong as Randy is eighteen. The Chief Executive runs through the Mayor ceremonial with the Roberts'. Audrey upsets Alf by being bored by the whole thing. Ken takes Denise to a barn dance at the school. She is flattered when he tells her that she makes him feel young. Denise is startled when Don arrives to taxi them. Emily tells Rita about Bernard's desertion and is comforted by her. Emily tells Rita that she loved Bernard. Denise is upset when Don turned up again to taxi them home. Back in the Street she marches off to her flat, puzzling Ken. Alf tells Audrey that he's sick of her showing him up. She suggests he finds someone else to be his Mayoress as she thinks it's all a game. Ken tries to phone Denise but she refuses to answer.

The previous week, on Monday 11th April the BBC had launched the third weekly episode of EastEnders to be broadcast at 8.00pm immediately after that day's edition of Coronation Street. There was much speculation as to which programme would rank highest in the viewing charts with the contest being won by ITV with 16.7 million viewers (for Episode 3684 on Wednesday 13th April) to the BBC's 11.1 million. ITV Executives then ordered a direct contest by having two episodes of the Street edited into a one-hour edition and being broadcast at the usual time of 7.30pm, meaning that the second half of the programme would be the first direct head-to-head between the two soaps. Again, ITV won with 14.9 million viewers to only 8.1 million on the BBC for the section of the episodes which went head-to-head and boasted about the fact on the next evening's News at Ten while the BBC dismissed the ITV win as "hollow". This was the second time that two episodes of the programme were edited into a one-hour edition, the first being Episode 3406 on 6th July1992 as a spoiler for the launch of Eldorado. The Street 's first purpose-written and recorded one-hour episode was Episode 3945 on 8th December1995 to celebrate the programme's thirty-fifth birthday.

TV Times synopsis: One lucky resident gets a surprise as the Legion holds a raffle. But what is Don Brennan up to now? Alf has an insight into the sort of mayoress Audrey will make.